What if you have to eat out?
If you know that a social meal is approaching, and you are determined to stick to your EU pattern as far as possible, there are some strategies you can adopt which will help. If it is an evening meal try to use only fruit and vegetable EUs for breakfast and lunch. A salad at lunch time, using 'free' vegetables which carry no EU values (chicory, endive, lettuce, radishes, Chinese leaves, parsley, watercress can all be eaten in unlimited quantities) will leave a large amount of your daily allotment free for the evening.

When that meal comes use the knowledge you already have to select low calorie items (thin soup, tossed salad etc.) and if you select meat make sure to trim off all visible fat, or skin from poultry, or bread crumbs from fish. Avoid sauces and gravies and fried food if at all possible. When dessert time comes, stick with fruit if available, avoiding sugary concoctions. If a buffet style meal is available you are home and dry since you can totally control your selection and intake.

If all fails and the meal that faces you allows you no chance to use the strategies described above, then enjoy it and resolve to get back to the straight and narrow path the next day. A break from the diet does no harm whatever, if it is a rare occurrence. The overall pattern is what counts, so feel no pangs of guilt or regret.

Optimum nutrition
The healthy dietary patterns which have been outlined in this chapter will provide optimum quantities of all the known beneficial nutrients, but only if whole, minimally processed foods are chosen. Those foods known to damage and unbalance health, such as refined carbohydrates (sugars, white flour, white rice, white pasta), more than just a little saturated fat, food additives and anything more than a touch of salt, should be avoided wherever this is possible.

Exchange diets such as the ones described above give you the chance to select foods according to your personal tastes and preferences while staying inside a framework which guarantees balance and optimal availability of essential nutrients. This is the key to safe calorie restriction which is the only proven method of life extension (with a host of health benefits thrown in). The special restriction patterns in the next chapter can enhance this benefit.